'Blending' of cooking oils for health and oil qualities.....

There was an excellent discussion some time back on the pros and cons of different cooking oils in the diet that I will post here as a way of introducing the new topic:  https://permies.com/t/40/152187/kitchen/Canola-oil

That thread started out focusing on Canola oil, but diverged into the health and nature of other edible oils.  At the time, that thread dealt only with the use of oils used individually.....not mixed with other oils.  More lately, I've been seeing articles on oil mixing, not just for health reasons, but also for cooking quality like 'smoke point' of the oil and effects on baked products.  Do others here have stories or examples where they have tried or adopted oil 'blending' to achieve a certain health or cooking characteristic?  I'm back to focusing on this due to post-stroke dietary considerations and am eager to hear if others have cardiovascular concerns as well with the oils they are using.  Thanks!

John said, " I'm back to focusing on this due to post-stroke dietary considerations and am eager to hear if others have cardiovascular concerns as well with the oils they are using.

What have you learned?

Is one cooking oil better than another?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Interesting.  My wife and I had this conversation last night.  She blended Avocado and Olive oil.   I see no harm being done, but I tend to be a skeptic as to benefits.   I have not bothered to read up on the topic.

As with so many contemporary clinical research studies, the data are still coming in on the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in oils and exactly which kind of omega-3s are most important.  A good, fairly recent and brief review can be found here:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/omega-3-fatty-acids-and-the-heart-new-evidence-more-questions-2021032422213

Note from the chart below that fish oil and flaxseed oil are some of the best sources for omega 3s, and yet within the omega-3 class, fish oil has a slightly different composition than does flaxseed.  From some reading, the flaxseed oil *can* give the same or similar health benefits, but needs processing within the human body to get those more beneficial forms of the fatty acid whereas those beneficial forms already exist in relatively high amounts in fish oil.  The *bulk* of the data shows a benefit;  some additional studies show little or no benefit.  But based on my own desire to attempt to improve diet health and knowing the history of flax and fish oil benefits for human health, I'm willing to lean into this idea in a cautious way.

If you look at the chart and then conceptualize Spectrum's (brand name) reasons for making the two blends shown below, you can imagine the canola/olive oil blend being produced to increase the smoke point of the olive oil *and* possibly even raise the omega-3 levels through the blending.  For the canola/coconut oil blend,  the blending would reduce some of the saturated fatty acids being provided by the coconut oil while also adding omega-3s from the canola oil.  Just a hunch, but it's interesting that Spectrum considered making and marketing these blends.  All are expeller pressed oils from what I can see.  The do sell flaxseed oil as well, but apparently the beneficials that are to be found in that oil are reduced in their efficacy through heating the oil, so it seems to be mostly used in lower temperature applications.  Don't know, maybe others can weigh in with their experience and observations on flaxseed oil.  Nevertheless, it is clearly among those plant-based oils with a high omega-3 content....not listed in this smoke-point chart is virgin olive oil with a smoke point near that of grapeseed oil>> [...see the interesting chart here:  https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/how-to-choose-the-best-culinary-oil-with-oil-smoke-point-chart ]

As a test of a canola-coconut oil blend, I made pan popcorn yesterday with about a 1:1 blend and it was fantastic.  Coconut oil gives the richness you would expect, but knowing it was also canola with potentially added benefits was even better (hopefully!.... :-)  )   Will be curious to know of other's conversations and experiences around this topic.  Thanks!

Edit:  Adding this link as a part of pondering this topic for your own health:  https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/no-need-to-avoid-healthy-omega-6-fats

Just run away from polyunsaturated fats - they are oxidizing fats, ok for wood preservation but not for human consumption. Coconut, olive oil and animal fats are the safest. This is what humans were eating for millennia. Ruminant animal fats are the safest, because these animals convert harmful plant fats to saturated, stable fats. Pig fat not so much - if the pig was fed grains or something questionable. Butter (or ghee) yes!
In the distant past I had a catering business, and had one client that was having some cancer treatment and even the mainstream doctor told him - stay away from PUFAs.

I found a cool website called CenturyLife.org and they have an interesting article on cooking oil:

https://www.centurylife.org/whats-the-healthiest-cooking-oil/

Cristobal Cristo wrote:Just run away from polyunsaturated fats - they are oxidizing fats, ok for wood preservation but not for human consumption. Coconut, olive oil and animal fats are the safest. This is what humans were eating for millennia. Ruminant animal fats are the safest, because these animals convert harmful plant fats to saturated, stable fats. Pig fat not so much - if the pig was fed grains or something questionable. Butter (or ghee) yes!
In the distant past I had a catering business, and had one client that was having some cancer treatment and even the mainstream doctor told him - stay away from PUFAs.

This is where I stand.  I eat only animal fats with olive oil for salads and some avocado that I blend with lard (ours are pastured and foraged) if we fry.